Chuck Hurley, the president of Iowa Family Policy Center has identified more than $170,000 coming from gay activists from outside of the state as campaign contributions to Iowa Democrats. The IFPC reported in an e-mail today:
Iowa Democrats have accepted contributions from out-of-state homosexual activists of at least $440,000 since 2006, with $170,000 going directly to Democratic legislators who faced hotly contested elections. Of special note, hundreds of thousands of these activist dollars were given to organizations controlled by Gronstal who is now blocking the IMA.
The Des Moines Register today reported Senate Majority Leader, Mike Gronstal’s response:
“With this latest publicity stunt, Mr. Hurley has violated a couple of the Ten Commandments and committed at least one of the seven deadly sins,” Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, said in a statement. “But why should this surprise Iowans? Mr. Hurley’s real motivation has always been hate-mongering and raising money from hard-working Iowans to cover his salary.”
Gronstal and House Speaker Pat Murphy need to allow debate on this issue. It needs to go before the whole Senate and the whole House. The people of Iowa need to decide this issue. Not judges like Robert Hansen who feels like he can rewrite laws he doesn’t like. It may not even be approved by the voters of the state, but at least we can have a voice.
Senator Majority Leader Gronstal’s words are out-of-line. Churck Hurley makes a legitimate point. Who is he answering to? It doesn’t appear to be the people of Iowa.
My friend Eric makes a couple of good points on a blog I contribute to:
Gronstal’s comments bring up two very important points:
1. Gronstal is afraid of answering questions on this issue with substantive responses because he knows that he is out of step with the vast majority of Iowans and Legislators.
2. At least Chuck Hurley is being supported by Iowans who want to preserve the institution of marriage in their own state. Gronstal has been purchased by out-of-state activists looking to desecrate a time-honored and basic unit of civilization in order to export their brand of morality to other states. So between Hurley and Gronstal, which man is standing on principle and which one is playing politics?
Even if you are a proponent of gay marriage, I hope you’d agree that the purchase of a key leader to stifle debate and a public vote against the wishes of the vast majority of Iowans AND their legislators is shameful at best.
So true.
